


higher branches, harder fall

by gravitiesfall



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Everyone Is Happy And No One Is Dead, First Kisses, Fluff, High School AU, I think?, M/M, dangerous tree climbing habits, friendship and kisses and HAPPINESS okay, just fluff, killua is tall FIGHT ME, more or less?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-08
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-10-29 11:24:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10852989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gravitiesfall/pseuds/gravitiesfall
Summary: Gon kisses him there, on the mossy floor, twenty feet in the air.Killua pushes him out of the tree.





	higher branches, harder fall

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this all today in the notes section of my phone during a very long car ride. it's unedited. this is my first (finished) fic with these two and therefore my first shot at their characterization. have fun!  
> title from trees by the oh hellos

They're fifteen, and it's been too long since they've climbed a tree.    
  
That's the only explanation Gon provides for why they're half a mile into the forest behind their school, searching for their former home base – a slightly broken-down treehouse, battered with years of use and splashed with blood, sweat, and orange juice on all three walls (and the floor, and the ceiling).    
  
Killua groans a little bit as he steps in _another_ puddle of mud. It would be different if they remembered where the treehouse was, he thinks. They'd sprint through the woods, hurdling stumps and calling out challenges to each other like they used to. But neither of them's got the foggiest hint where it could be, and so Gon insists on _this_ : this slow and arduous trek to survey every inch of ground in this godforsaken forest and hopefully find the treehouse before they graduated.    
  
He shakes off his shoes – bright purple high tops, which he has worn in with great care and great use, until their fit is more natural than breathing. They stick out against the greens and browns and golds of the summer woods almost uncomfortably.    
  
Gon, on the other hand, blends right in. Today he's abandoned his trademark bomber jacket, wearing only a white t-shirt that hugs his widening shoulders. As kids, they'd both been skinny and small. But recently, Killua has shot up like a weed, now pushing 5'10", lean and angular – a runner's build. Gon, by comparison, is short and somewhat stocky – not that it's a bad look for him, Killua mentally adds. Definitely not.    
  
He realizes they have both been stopped for the last minute or so, and he has been idly staring at Gon's back, running his eyes over his best friend's shoulders and forearms and lower back. It seems to have gone unnoticed, but he flushes bright red and quickly averts his gaze nevertheless.    
  
"Does this area look familiar to you?" Gon asks, turning suddenly, and Killua starts.    
  
"Uh..." He quickly surveys the clearing they're in. Sunlight dapples the grass in uneven patches; tiny white daisies pop up intermittently, concentrated around the base of a huge oak. A single curved slash mars its trunk. It's beautiful, but Killua's fairly sure he's never seen it in his life. "Not particularly."    
  
Gon sighs and, without warning, flops down on the grass. Killua drops to sit crosslegged beside him with slightly more dignity.    
  
"We used to know the way to the treehouse by heart," Gon laments. "How did we forget it?"    
  
Killua shrugs. "We haven't come here since we were like thirteen. Life gets in the way."    
  
"That's kinda sad, Killua," Gon says. His amber eyes are trained on the clouds above them. "I didn't _want_ to stop coming here. It's unfair that we have to do other things instead."   
  
"What, like sports?" Killua's pretty sure Gon wouldn't give up his spots on his various teams if he was offered the moon itself. Football in the fall, basketball in the winter, lacrosse in the spring – if it had running, physical contact, and/or a ball, Gon was probably excellent at it.    
  
"Homework," Gon clarifies, and Killua makes an _oh_ sound in understanding and agreement.    
  
"I still feel like a kid most of the time," Gon continues. "Honestly, I don't really want to get older."    
  
"There are good things about growing up," Killua argues half-heartedly.    
  
"Like what?" Gon challenges.    
  
"Driving–"    
  
"Both of us bike everywhere, though."    
  
"–college–"    
  
"College just means more homework!"    
  
"–new friends–"    
  
"We don't have to get older to make friends."    
  
"–relationships–"    
  
Gon doesn't interject at the pause Killua had unconsciously left, and suddenly he feels very, very uncomfortable. He glances over and is greeted with a very surprising sight: Gon looking _embarrassed_. He's sat up at this point, and is staring with an unwarranted heat at his hiking boots, cheeks a little bit flushed. His hands rest a little awkwardly in his lap, like in his predicament he's forgotten what to do with them.   
  
Oh God, it's adorable.    
  
"Uh–" Killua begins, but Gon hops up suddenly and starts to walk back into the trees.    
  
"Let's keep looking!" he says, sounding oddly chipper even for Gon (second most enthusiastic person on Earth, in Killua's estimation, only because someone more excitable _had_ to exist, statistically). "The treehouse has to be around here somewhere!"    
  
Killua spends a few seconds doing the mental and emotional equivalent of _?????_ before shrugging and following.    
  
Really, it's probably better Gon cut him off there. Killua's got a lot of secrets, but number 1 most embarrassing and private – _ugh, it's painful for him to even_ think _about this_ – is his massive crush on his best friend.    
  
Oops, right?   
  
Among their friends, no one explicitly knows. He's sure Alluka has figured it out, being his sister and closest confidante, plus uncannily perceptive about relationships and romance and all the things that freak Killua out the most. She certainly drops cryptic hints often enough. Surprisingly, Leorio is probably second on the _who-knows-about-Killua's-almost-obsessive-crush-on-Gon_ list, mostly because actual number two, Hisoka, is someone he will never ever qualify as a friend in a million years. Kurapika, despite his stunning cleverness, is positively oblivious about relationships; Zushi is too busy sighing over Alluka to pay attention to anyone else's romantic dilemmas (like he'd let that mess go unnoticed, he's her big brother, for fuck's sake); most of their older friends and role models are out simply because he's too mortified by even the thought of them knowing.    
  
"There!" Gon exclaims, rudely snapping Killua out of his thoughts, and points, as if their destination wasn't obvious enough.    
  
They've found the treehouse, alright, and it's just like he remembers it: totally falling apart, but magical nevertheless.    
  
"Well, would you look at that," Killua says dryly, though he can't quite kill his grin. "You found it."    
  
"We both found it," Gon throws over his shoulder, grinning the lopsided grin that never fails to set Killua's heart racing. "You mostly just stared at the back of my neck, though. So I guess you're right– you weren't very helpful."    
  
Killua sputters indignantly, face aflame. _So he did notice._ "I was spacing out!" he spits out. "Sue me, dumbass!"    
  
Gon taps his chin in mock thought. "How about I just race you up to the treehouse?"    
  
Killua returns his friend's earlier grin, though still somewhat flushed. "Deal. What do I get when I win?"    
  
" _If_ you win– and you won't," Gon says, "I'll tell you... I'll tell you what I was embarrassed about, earlier. You're really smart, Killua, I know you noticed." His tone has done a complete 180, from competitive bravado to something that mixed genuine and embarrassed, with a tablespoon of affection for balance. "When I win, though," and just like that, normal Gon is back, "you gotta tell me what you were thinking about when you were _'spacing out'_."   
  
Killua can _hear_ the air quotes. His eyes narrow in determination and a little bit of offense. "You're on," he says, then, all in one breath, " _threetwooneGO!_ "   
  
At this point, they're used to each others' tricks, so Gon doesn't fall for the sudden start; he's been ready to go since he uttered the challenge. He's off and sprinting to the nearest tree just as soon as Killua, finding footholds with ease.    
  
The treehouse used to have a rope ladder, but it had been decrepit when they'd found it and rotted away within months of its first use. The quickest way up, therefore, was to climb the neighboring trees, then jump or crawl from there onto the platform of the treehouse. Gon charges at the tree on the right; Killua bolts for the tree on the left.    
  
They both practically fly up the trunks, swinging up onto thick branches and scattering leaves into the thick summer air with the force of their jumps. _One, two, three, four_ – Killua knows from experience that it takes six branches and an odd sort of leap to get onto the platform from this tree. Two more and he'll have won.    
  
He yanks himself up onto five, swings up over six, and takes off running.    
  
"DONE!" he yells, dropping onto the decaying wood with far too much weight and momentum. At that exact moment, Gon makes the same declaration, crashing into him in a similarly excessive fashion.    
  
The wood creaks dangerously under their feet, and Killua has just enough time to think _oh shit_ , grab Gon's waist, and make a desperate leap for the more solid floor of the actual treehouse before the rotting planks fall out from under them.    
  
They make it – barely – and are left panting with both the exertion of their climb/race and the desperation of a split-second brush with danger.    
  
Killua closes his eyes and takes a deep breath through his nose. Then he lets it out again, equally slowly. His heartbeat slows.    
  
Of course, as soon as he opens his eyes, he is presented with a new and arguably worse problem.    
  
When he grabbed Gon and jumped for it, he did not plan their landing aside from _there will be one_ and _it will not be on the very hard ground_. So, obviously, he had failed to realize that putting an arm around Gon's waist while they were facing each other and making a jump that barely cleared the treehouse would leave him laying on the floor of the treehouse, left arm braced directly by Gon's head, right arm resting half-propped from Gon's shoulder to ribcage, pretty much on top of his best friend.    
  
Fuck.    
  
Gon is staring up at him, looking a little shell-shocked. His eyes gleam amber in a patch of sun, and if Killua isn't mistaken, his cheeks are rather pink, blurring usually apparent freckles. His expression is hard to pin down – surprised and blank and a tiny bit worried and _awed_ , all at once.    
  
It's really, really hard not to lean down and kiss him.    
  
Fortunately – or unfortunately, Killua can't seem to make up his mind – his panic takes over, and he scrambles back and jumps to his feet. "Sorry," he says, face on fire. God, he would give anything not to blush so easily.    
  
Gon swings himself into a sitting position, letting his legs dangle out over the edge. "What're you sorry for? You just saved my life, probably."   
  
Killua shrugs. He's eager to move on from the topic of _I-was-just-on-top-of-you_ , although his traitorous brain seems to disagree, showing him the scene over, and over, and over... He shakes the thought off.   
  
"I mean, it's not that far down..." He trails off, peering over the cedar boards at the ground. He's suddenly struck with how high up they are – probably twenty feet. It would be pretty bad if they fell, but when they were twelve and reckless that somehow didn't seem to be a concern. It's much more of a problem now, when they're stranded in the treehouse without any clear way down.    
  
Great.    
  
"So," says Gon. "Since I won, tell me what you were thinking about."    
  
Killua turns to stare at his best friend. "I think I hit my head in that fall. Did I actually just hear you say you won?"    
  
"I hit the platform first!" Gon says, already jutting his chin out defensively.    
  
"Did not," Killua refutes, just as aggressive. "I remember – I touched, we both yelled, you touched, we jumped, the platform broke."    
  
"No way! It was the other way around!" Killua recognizes the set of Gon's mouth, the slant of his eyebrows – his most seriously determined face. _He really wants to win this argument,_ Killua realizes. _What does he even gain from this?_   
  
Oh.    
  
"Why do you want to know what I was thinking about so badly?" Gon's eyes widen quite a bit, and Killua can't help his half-smirk. He obviously wasn't expecting to be figured out.    
  
"I– I don't!" Gon stutters. Killua rolls his eyes.    
  
"Cut the crap, Gon, we both know you're not a good liar. Tell me."    
  
Gon fixes his gaze on the ground far, far below. "I will," he says, after some apparent deliberation. "And I'll tell you what I was embarrassed about, too. But first, you gotta tell me what you were thinking about."    
  
Killua's heart drops to his toes. Tell Gon about his crush on Gon? Ha. "Definitely not."     
  
Gon offers a smirk of his own (though on him it's infinitely more charming, Killua is sure). "Then you'll never know what _I_ was thinking."    
  
Dammit. They've effectively trapped each other, now – both too stubborn to tell, too determined to let the other stay silent. Killua silently curses his own curious nature.    
  
"I was thinking of what to get Alluka for her birthday," he lies easily. "Your turn."    
  
Gon narrows his eyes. "Who's the liar now?" he says, sticking his tongue out at Killua. "You gotta tell the truth."   
  
Killua huffs. It had been worth a shot.    
  
"I was... thinking about a secret," he says slowly. "And who I think knows about it."    
  
"Do I know about it?" Gon asks, uncharacteristically subdued.    
  
Killua meets Gon's eyes, and in that moment, he swears his heart stops. "No," he whispers. "I don't think so."    
  
"Tell me," Gon requests, just as quietly.    
  
During their conversation, the distance between them had gradually decreased, until the two of them were inches from each other. Killua inhales a little sharply, realizing, and pulls back.    
  
"Tell me your things first," he says. It feels too loud, practically a yell in the hush of the forest afternoon.    
  
Gon's mouth twists into an  uncomfortable sort of pout. It tugs on Killua's heart in a way he doesn't care to examine.    
  
"The reason I wanted to know so bad was cause the reason might help me make a decision," Gon says. "Tell me the secret now."    
  
"But that was practically nothing!" Killua protests.    
  
"Now you know how I felt," returns Gon.    
  
"I'll give you a hint," Killua says. His voice has gone quiet again, quite without his consent, and he can't quite tell whether Gon is leaning in or staying still. "It's got something to do with you."    
  
"Same here." The gap is getting smaller again, he's pretty sure.    
  
"I think Alluka knows, but Kurapika wouldn't figure it out." It's really only about a foot, and their thighs are brushing – they're sitting close. Is it normal to be this close?    
  
"I'm trying to decide whether to tell you something." Killua's heart is hammering. Is... is this going where he thinks it's going? No way in hell.    
  
And yet the gap is still closing.    
  
"What were you embarrassed about earlier?" Killua asks. If Gon was any further, he wouldn't have heard. But Killua is close enough to count Gon's freckles, and though he's almost too embarrassed/concerned/ _terrified_ to say it, out the question comes.    
  
Gon smiles, a little wry, a little self-deprecating, and says, "Well, you brought up relationships, Killua. But the only person I could ever see myself loving is you."    
  
Killua freezes.    
  
Gon kisses him there, on the mossy floor, twenty feet in the air.    
  
It makes fireworks explode behind his eyes, and his heart feels so full it could _burst_.    
  
When he pulls back, Killua pushes him out of the tree.   
  
Gon catches himself on the way down, thank God, on a tiny stub of a branch with barely enough room for both hands.    
  
"Killua!" he yells up. "Why did you do that?!"    
  
"I don't know!" Killua replies, semi-hysterically. "I didn't know how else to react!"    
  
"A simple 'I don't feel that way about you' would have been fine," Gon grumbles.    
  
"You idiot," Killua calls down. "Of course I feel the same way about you! Why wouldn't I?"    
  
The change that goes over Gon's face is instantaneous – from slightly grumpy to absolutely radiant. Killua's glad he's still sitting, or he might have fallen.    
  
"Really?" Gon asks.    
  
"Yes, really," Killua answers. He can already feel his cheeks starting to heat up, but holy shit, this is worth it.    
  
"Then will you be my boyfriend?"    
  
And now his whole face is up in flame. "To the point as ever," he mutters, though he's too happy to be very sullen. "Ask me again when you aren't hanging onto a tree branch for dear life!"    
  
"Oh, right," Gon says, looking down, He's probably eight-ish feet from the ground, at this point – not a great drop, but not lethal, either. "I forgot about that."    
  
"Forgot about– Gon, how do you forget you are literally in a life threatening situation?" Killua yells down at him.    
  
Gon shrugs as best he can manage. "I was kinda too happy to think about the tree thing," he says. Killua sighs.    
  
Without prelude or warning, Gon drops to the ground with a sharp _pat_ , then waves as if to prove his relative lack of injury.    
  
"Fuck that," Killua mutters under his breath. Very carefully, he reaches out as far as he can – which, considering his height, is pretty far – grabs hold of a fairly sturdy branch on a neighboring tree, and manages to climb down that one the _normal_ way.    
  
Once both of his feet are safely on the ground, Killua turns to Gon and grins. "Wasn't there something you were going to ask me?" he says, feigning forgetfulness.    
  
Gon matches his smile, and Killua swears his insides light up like the Fourth of July. "Killua," he says, a little seriously, a little lightly, "will you be my boyfriend?"    
  
Killua's grin grows and grows and grows. "Yeah," he says, and pulls Gon close.    


**Author's Note:**

> uh... yeah! might come back to edit later, who knows. please feel free to leave kudos and/or comments if you liked it, or you hated it, or you want to offer constructive criticism, or you've got questions! thank you so much for reading!!


End file.
